Micro and Nano Fabrication Facility

Sputter deposition of thin films of molybdenum, aluminum, silicon dioxide, or aluminum nitride via DC or RF sputtering or reactive sputtering.  Substrates are 100 mm diameter or smaller pieces.  A heated substrate holder is available with 300C maximum temperature.  Users should specify desired film thickness, temperature, dep rate, or can ask the lab to recommend a typical process.  Wafers should be clean and particle free.  Allowed materials in the tool include silicon, silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, aluminum, aluminum nitride, aluminum oxide, molybdenum, DQN (S1800, SPR) and AZ photoresists.  Additional materials may be allowed, please ask.

Cleanroom garb provided for non-users - those being given a tour by cleanroom staff, observing a process, etc.

Copper and nickel electroplating services are available.  Copper is a bright acid copper (copper sulfate) chemistry.  Nickel is a low-stress Nickel Sulfamate chemistry.  Both chemistries are from Technic.  Plating will be conducted on 100 mm diameter wafers or smaller pieces.  Customer must supply substrates with seed layer (evaporated or sputtered Ti/Cu recommended).  Maximum thickness 10 microns.

Hydrofluoric acid etching to remove surface oxide layers from specimens, process according to our silicon oxide etch.

Maximum specimen size that can be accomodated must fit into standard 250mL polymethylpentene beakers, etch time dependent on removal rate. Specimens will be rinsed 3x in deionized water, blown dry with N2 and placed on a hot plate at >100C to drive off any residual moisture.

Wet etching of various metals using appropriate metal etchants. Al, Cr, Au, Ni, Ti, W, Cu.  Typically maximum etch depth on the order of 1 micron (depending on metal).

Standard light microscope imaging and image capture. Magnification to 500x, 5MP images, specimens up 150mm diameter, various filters available. Well suited to standard microfabrication characterization. Non-standard specimens, and/or geometries may be challenging

Sputter deposition of thin films of gold, chromium, titanium, copper, silver, aluminum, zinc, germanium, ITO and other conductive materials.  A sputter down system, substrates of up to 8 inches in diameter can be accomodated.  Users should specify desired film thickness, temperature, dep rate, or can ask the lab to recommend a typical process.  Substrates should be clean and particle free.  This is our least restrictive PVD tool as far as allowed materials are concerned - photoresists, fully cured polymers, and more, please inquire.

Parylene coating services using Parylene-C are available in a PDS-2010 Labcoater system.  Available thicknesses are from 0.5 microns to 20 microns.  Maximum substrate size is 150 mm.  At most 3 substrates can be loaded simultaneously. Deposition is conformal.  Substrate will experience elevated temperatures (~135 C) and low pressures (~ 10 mTorr) during deposition.  Substrate must be clean and free of particles.

Pouring and curing of PDMS in SU8 microfluidic molds followed by device removal, oxygen plasma etch and finally bonding to standard glass slides. Up to three 100mm diameter molds can be accommodated at one time. Does not include tubing insertion

Piranha (a mixture of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) and water) cleaning to remove organic material from specimens, process will be performed according to our Piranha Clean SOP.

Maximum specimen size must fit into standard 1000ml glass beakers, if possible multiple specimens will be processed together. Following the cleaning specimens will be rinsed 3x in deionized water, blown dry with N2 and placed on a hot plate at >100C to drive off any residual moisture

Imaging of conventional specimens in our Tescan VEGA3 scanning electron microscope. Typically feature sizes below 50nm are discernible if materials have good contrast. Includes metallization if necessary. Non-standard specimens - odd sizes and/or geometries, low contrast, BSE detector required, etc - will necessitate a greater charge.

General assistance by staff on running a tool or process.

Bruker DekTak XT Sylus Profilometer - employs a stylus scanned across a surface to characterize various features – step height, roughness, stress, etc. The instrument max step height is 1mm, max scan length is 55mm, resolution approximately 1nm, accuracy approximately 10nm.

Fabrication of a simple microfluidic mold using SU8 resist - single layer, feature size 15-500um+, thicknes 5-100um. Does not include substrates, photomasks or design support

Thin film metal deposition via thermal evaporation is available.  Available metals are Al, Cr, Ti, Cu, Au.  Maximum thickness:  Cr 50 nm Ti 50 nm Al 500 nm Cu 500 nm Au 500 nm.  Substrates must be 100 mm wafers, 75 mm x 25 mm glass slides, or 25 mm x 25 mm square pieces.  Customers must suppy clean substrates.  Charge is per deposition.  A single deposition can coat 1 100 mm wafer, or 3 slides, or 9 square pieces.  Depositions can include 2 metal layers (for example, 20 nm Cr/200 nm Au).

Perform non-contact film height measurements using the Zygo white light interferometer. Field of view is approximately 700 x 500microns. Able to accommodate specimens from small chips to 150mm wafers (possibly larger), thickness from sub-millimeter to tens of millimeters. Range of measurement in Z-direction up to 120microns. Note that samples must be reflective in order to obtain good data

Wet etching of various metals using appropriate metal etchants. Al, Cr, Au, Ni, Ti, W, Cu.  Typically maximum etch depth on the order of 1 micron (depending on metal).

General assistance by staff on running a tool or process.

Bruker DekTak XT Sylus Profilometer - employs a stylus scanned across a surface to characterize various features – step height, roughness, stress, etc. The instrument max step height is 1mm, max scan length is 55mm, resolution approximately 1nm, accuracy approximately 10nm.

Parylene coating services using Parylene-C are available in a PDS-2010 Labcoater system.  Available thicknesses are from 0.5 microns to 20 microns.  Maximum substrate size is 150 mm.  At most 3 substrates can be loaded simultaneously. Deposition is conformal.  Substrate will experience elevated temperatures (~135 C) and low pressures (~ 10 mTorr) during deposition.  Substrate must be clean and free of particles.

Sputter deposition of thin films of gold, chromium, titanium, copper, silver, aluminum, zinc, germanium, ITO and other conductive materials.  A sputter down system, substrates of up to 8 inches in diameter can be accomodated.  Users should specify desired film thickness, temperature, dep rate, or can ask the lab to recommend a typical process.  Substrates should be clean and particle free.  This is our least restrictive PVD tool as far as allowed materials are concerned - photoresists, fully cured polymers, and more, please inquire.

Thin film metal deposition via thermal evaporation is available.  Available metals are Al, Cr, Ti, Cu, Au.  Maximum thickness:  Cr 50 nm Ti 50 nm Al 500 nm Cu 500 nm Au 500 nm.  Substrates must be 100 mm wafers, 75 mm x 25 mm glass slides, or 25 mm x 25 mm square pieces.  Customers must suppy clean substrates.  Charge is per deposition.  A single deposition can coat 1 100 mm wafer, or 3 slides, or 9 square pieces.  Depositions can include 2 metal layers (for example, 20 nm Cr/200 nm Au).

Fabrication of a simple microfluidic mold using SU8 resist - single layer, feature size 15-500um+, thicknes 5-100um. Does not include substrates, photomasks or design support

Imaging of conventional specimens in our Tescan VEGA3 scanning electron microscope. Typically feature sizes below 50nm are discernible if materials have good contrast. Includes metallization if necessary. Non-standard specimens - odd sizes and/or geometries, low contrast, BSE detector required, etc - will necessitate a greater charge.

Sputter deposition of thin films of molybdenum, aluminum, silicon dioxide, or aluminum nitride via DC or RF sputtering or reactive sputtering.  Substrates are 100 mm diameter or smaller pieces.  A heated substrate holder is available with 300C maximum temperature.  Users should specify desired film thickness, temperature, dep rate, or can ask the lab to recommend a typical process.  Wafers should be clean and particle free.  Allowed materials in the tool include silicon, silicon nitride, silicon dioxide, aluminum, aluminum nitride, aluminum oxide, molybdenum, DQN (S1800, SPR) and AZ photoresists.  Additional materials may be allowed, please ask.

Pouring and curing of PDMS in SU8 microfluidic molds followed by device removal, oxygen plasma etch and finally bonding to standard glass slides. Up to three 100mm diameter molds can be accommodated at one time. Does not include tubing insertion

Standard light microscope imaging and image capture. Magnification to 500x, 5MP images, specimens up 150mm diameter, various filters available. Well suited to standard microfabrication characterization. Non-standard specimens, and/or geometries may be challenging

Piranha (a mixture of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) and water) cleaning to remove organic material from specimens, process will be performed according to our Piranha Clean SOP.

Maximum specimen size must fit into standard 1000ml glass beakers, if possible multiple specimens will be processed together. Following the cleaning specimens will be rinsed 3x in deionized water, blown dry with N2 and placed on a hot plate at >100C to drive off any residual moisture

Copper and nickel electroplating services are available.  Copper is a bright acid copper (copper sulfate) chemistry.  Nickel is a low-stress Nickel Sulfamate chemistry.  Both chemistries are from Technic.  Plating will be conducted on 100 mm diameter wafers or smaller pieces.  Customer must supply substrates with seed layer (evaporated or sputtered Ti/Cu recommended).  Maximum thickness 10 microns.

Hydrofluoric acid etching to remove surface oxide layers from specimens, process according to our silicon oxide etch.

Maximum specimen size that can be accomodated must fit into standard 250mL polymethylpentene beakers, etch time dependent on removal rate. Specimens will be rinsed 3x in deionized water, blown dry with N2 and placed on a hot plate at >100C to drive off any residual moisture.

Perform non-contact film height measurements using the Zygo white light interferometer. Field of view is approximately 700 x 500microns. Able to accommodate specimens from small chips to 150mm wafers (possibly larger), thickness from sub-millimeter to tens of millimeters. Range of measurement in Z-direction up to 120microns. Note that samples must be reflective in order to obtain good data

Cleanroom garb provided for non-users - those being given a tour by cleanroom staff, observing a process, etc.